The centre will host the canoe/kayak slalom events, and after the Olympics it will be developed to become a sporting and leisure facility for canoeing and white-water rafting, as well as a major competition venue for elite events.

The original site at Siptalbrook was changed last October following the discovery of some contamination which made the proposed development of the site unviable.

The centre will be owned and managed by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA).

The contract was put out to tender in May with five companies - Edmund Nuttall Limited, Fitzpatrick Contractors Limited, Carillion Construction Limited, Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Limited and Morrison Construction Limited - now shortlisted.

Olympic Delivery Authority chief executive David Higgins said: “The new world-class facilities are an example of how hosting the 2012 Games will spread benefits around the country.

"Securing such a strong shortlist of leading contractors is an important step towards delivering first-class facilities for the world’s best athletes in 2012 and leaving the lasting legacy of a major leisure attraction for many years to come.”

The centre will be built on the overflow car park for the showground site of the River Lee Country Park.

LVRPA chief executive Shaun Dawson said: “The short listing of contractors represents an important milestone in the delivery of the White Water Canoe Centre.

"This fantastic venue will be handed to the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority in 2010-11 when it will become an integral part of the zone of sporting excellence which is being established in the Lee Valley Regional Park.”

East of England Development Agency chairman Richard Ellis said: “EEDA and other partners, including the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and Sport England, have worked closely together, and with the ODA, to specifically develop a real and lasting added-value legacy and ensure that the Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre is accessible, valued and enjoyed by people living, working and visiting the area well after the Games event has taken place.”

The construction contract is expected to be awarded in early 2009, with works starting in Spring 2009.

The venue is due to be completed for Games training and testing in 2010-2011.

During the Games, temporary seating will be installed around the venue for spectators.

After the Games, the spectator seating will be removed, and the venue will be developed into the Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre, creating a major leisure attraction for canoeing and white water rafting as well as a venue for future international competition.

The Broxbourne canoe course will be located within a wider parkland setting designed by leading landscape architects Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA), and the new facility building has been designed by architects FaulknerBrowns. Whitewater course specialists Whitewater Parks International, working with civil and structural engineers Cundall, are the designers of the whitewater courses.

The construction of the Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre includes funding from Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, the East of England Development Agency and Sport England.